Free Legacy: The Acclaimed Novel of Elizabeth, England's Most Passionate Queen -- and the Three Men Who Loved Her by Susan Kay

little doll she
    carried beneath her arm. After a moment she made the sign of the cross
    above the flame and began to speak softly in Latin. They could not catch
    what she said, but she looked so uncannily like a witch repeating the
    words of an incantation that Guildford began to sob in good earnest.
    “I want to go back, I want to go back. Come with me, Robin.”
    “I can’t leave her here by herself,” said Robin sharply. “She’s only a
    girl. Look—take my candle and go back if you want to—but don’t let
    the guards see you.”
    Guildford fled silently down the corridor and after a moment Robin
    went over to her and touched her arm.
    “What are you doing?” he asked uneasily. “What did you say just then?”
    She picked up the candle and looked at him through the dancing
    yellow flame.
    “I said that I would never marry.”
    He laughed outright. “Why did you say that?”
    Turning, she glanced once more down the empty gallery and shivered.
    “Because I meant it.”
    “Oh,” he said uncomfortably and picked up the doll, turning it over
    in surprise. “Why do you play with this?” he asked slowly. “It’s broken!”
    “It’s not broken!” she said strangely and took it from him.
    “Of course it is,” he insisted. “It’s got no—” The word died on his lips
    as he saw her face. As he watched she took the doll and the candle and
    began to walk away down the gallery.
    He was forced to run after her, to avoid being left in the dark.
    t t t
    Months passed and the King, climbing out of a dark abyss of self-pity,
    began to search for a new wife. Foreign princesses were conspicious by
    their sudden absence in the matrimonial stakes, and a number of women
    averted their eyes nervously whenever they felt the King’s gaze heavy
    upon them. Among these anxious ladies was Lord Latimer’s widow,
    Katherine Parr, who stared uneasily across the banqueting table to meet
    Tom Seymour’s eyes and and look hastily away one more. The King
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    Legacy
    watched this interesting little side play and suddenly knew he had found
    what he was looking for. He admired his brother-in-law’s taste in women
    and very soon was making his intentions clear, amused by the opportunity
    to get one up on Tom, that notorious ladies’ man.
    Unaware of the momentous decision her father had made, Elizabeth
    closed her book and went out to the stables with Robin, down the
    kitchen stairs and past the tennis court, hitching up her skirts among the
    dirty rushes. Beside a bale of hay lay a sleek bitch, suckling half a dozen
    greedy puppies.
    “Caesar’s litter,” said Robin proudly.
    “Caesar again! Does he ever stop to eat?”
    Robin grinned and they exchanged the furtive snigger of children
    with a little worldly knowledge.
    “Mother says he ought to be castrated.”
    “If I were your mother,” said Elizabeth wickedly, “I’d castrate more
    than poor old Caesar. She’s always pregnant.”
    Robin laughed. “Father says Dudleys will inherit the earth.”
    “They certainly ought to—they breed like rabbits.” Elizabeth shud-
    dered. “It must be awful to have a baby every year.”
    “It’s nothing,” said Robin, cheerfully heartless. “It’s only like shelling
    peas. It’s much worse for a horse. They let me watch Black Cherry foal
    the other day and the foal’s head was stuck so far back that old Wilks had
    to get his whole arm inside and—”
    “Be quiet!”
    He turned to look at her in astonishment.
    “Listen!” she said curtly.
    Footsteps were crunching heavily across the courtyard and they
    exchanged a look of alarm. There would be trouble if they were caught
    together here, without her attendants.
    “Over here!” said Robin and pulled her down behind the bale of hay.
    The fat puppies waddled after them and the bitch growled as a tall man
    came quickly through the door. They recognised Tom Seymour at once
    from his golden beard and arrogant swagger, and Elizabeth, relaxing in the
    sudden knowledge that